Mr. Nelson Discovers Bunnies

Hello most humans and many others,

This morning, for the second time, Mr. Nelson discovered a bunny in the front yard. Missy Linda lets him out front when she can keep an eye on him. He and that bunny can run fast! I hadn't seen many bunnies around since the bobcat started hanging around out back.

The next door neighbors have a pretty large vegetable garden this year, and that may be what has lured them back. Also, they seem to be staying away from our back area. Missy Linda also said that she saw a humane trap in the yard next door, possibly for just such rascals who love vegetables.

As long as Mr. Nelson is a little slower than the bunny, we will enjoy their antics.

Signs It Might Be a Long Day

Hello most humans and many others,

Missy Linda is already expecting a long day. She mentioned that when she awakens and the windows in her bedroom are so covered with condensation that she can't see out, that's a huge sign that it is too humid!

When she is required to be at work early to get the rules for the exercise for everyone to learn how to give good customer service with the fewest clerks possible, she is not happy. They expect everyone to be all gung-ho about working harder for the same pay? She doesn't understand that.

Then when she remembers that she must stop for gas before she can even make it as far as the store, she starts to feel annoyed with herself for not filling up on her way home the last time. Maybe next time.

I hope your day is better than hers is going to be. I mean that sincerely.

Advice About Hair

Hello most humans and many others,

I deeply feel a need to speak frankly to some of you humans out there about your hairstyles. Actually, perhaps I don't mean hairstyles so much as your inattention to your hair's potential style. You probably do not realize who you are, but I can tell you that Missy Linda is at the top of my list.

If you are a human with short hair, especially if it is fine textured, you must not let your mind wander when you are using a hair dryer. Just a couple of seconds in one place can leave a rooster tail that cannot be totally disguised until your hair is washed again. I have noticed recently that Missy Linda seems to have this problem. I can see the places where she has tried to glue down a section of hair with hairspray or some such product, but it never works completely.

People, all you have to do is to pay attention when you are drying your hair. If your hair is short, how long does that take? About a minute or two? Can you really afford to go out into the world with random shocks of hair sticking out? Well, I say, not unless you dye some of them blue or green and go with the total look. But, I believe many of you would not be allowed to go to work that way, so your best option is to be totally present and aware when you are getting ready for the day.

Oh, and, by the way, stay away from the $6.95 haircut places. You get what you pay for. A $50 cut is not necessary, but never, ever go to the cheapest place where they are eating carry-out food in the cutting area. Enough said?

Moving Up

Hello most humans and many others,

Well, the excitement is not palpable around here. Missy Linda is not overjoyed with the news, and things around here will not change much. It seems that Missy Linda is going to become a supervisor at work. Sadly, that is not the fabulous promotion that it seems.

There will be different responsibilities such as closing or opening the registers, opening or closing the store, ordering merchandise, going to work or staying late an extra hour to do whatever they do in the office at that time. When she asked Mr. Fry what the duties of the job are, he said, "You have to be me for twenty-five hours a week rather than the sixty to eighty hours I have to be me." (He gets paid a lot and gets benefits, though.)

Don't get me wrong. Missy Linda says that there is a raise involved. It will be a whopping fifty cents an hour. Add that to the ten cents an hour she will get in August for being there a year, and I think she will have it made in the shade. She seems to feel otherwise.

She says the advantages that made her accept the job are that she will not have to work every other Sunday. She might even get Saturdays off- - -or not. Also, when she leaves this job, she will be able to put on her resume that she was a supervisor. She is hoping that will make a difference when she is trying for a better job.

I just don't understand why she is not more excited, do you?

Time Flies No Matter What You Are Doing

Hello most humans and many others,

Usually, you humans say, "Time flies when you are having fun."

Missy Linda says that it doesn't matter what is going on: time still passes quickly. For me, it doesn't happen that way, but then, I am sitting for long periods of time in the same place, unable to move. Sadly, that means that I can't talk to you all unless and until Missy Linda gets me to the computer. Even so, I can't believe it is still so long since I last blogged.

If you know anything about Missy Linda, you know she can be in a dither most of the time. I think that she really believes she has things under control, but for us bystanders, it can be like watching an episode of "I Love Lucy." Don't tell her I said that: she hates those shows. She thinks that she is the only person in the world who doesn't like them, and she doesn't really want to offend or hurt feelings. Still, she just isn't into physical comedy very much.

Anyway, I don't know if the days are flying by me, or, if I just have no concept of the passage of time. Whichever it is, I have to run (in a manner of speaking) because Missy Linda is hollering for the computer. TTYL

Not Betty Crocker

Hello most humans and many others,

I know when I think of Betty Crocker, I think of cooking. However, when Missy Linda was a senior in high school, she won the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow Award. She has a little metal to prove it. At that time, the Home Ec teacher told the students that they would be surprised who would receive the honor at the awards assembly, having forgotten that Missy Linda was in that class. The reason it was supposed to be surprising was that Missy Linda had not taken that class except for her senior year. Most of the girls had been in Home Ec for four years. (All that was required to win was to make the highest grade on a test sent out by the Betty Crocker people!)

Anyway, I maintain that Missy Linda should be stripped of her award, unless the Homemakers of Tomorrow (or today) aren't required to do anything!

Example: Yesterday, late afternoon/early evening, Missy Linda is vacuuming. Tio Kane yells out, "Is someone coming over?" Mr. Nelson had run as far to the corner of the yard as he can get because he is terrified of the vacuum, possibly because it has been run so infrequently in the time that he has lived here. He hasn't had a chance to get accustomed to it.

Example: I think that the last time I saw the top of the dining table was when we last had guests for dinner- - -and that has been a while. Same story for the coffee table.

That's all the time I have today, but I will give you so many examples that one of you out there will feel compelled to contact the Betty Crocker people to get that award rescinded!

Shade is Good?

Hi there most humans and many others,

How is the world treating you all today? We are having a small dilemma here at Missy Linda's house. In her front yard are two maple trees. They are planted close together. When she moved into this house, almost thirteen years ago, they were small trees. That might have been their second summer existing.

Well, now, they are huge! They totally shade most of the front yard, and the driveway. Depending on the angle of the sun, they even shade part of the street, and a couple of the neighbors park there to keep their cars cooler. Missy Linda doesn't mind that at all unless she is expecting guests who might need parking (like she has guests!)

The problem is that now the grass that was in the front yard has died. Missy Linda is trying to get grass for shade to grow, but is not having much luck. She wants to be a good neighbor and keep her yard decent looking. The neighbors on one side, who are friends, just had their yard professionally landscaped. That certainly shows a contrast! The guy on the other side, who won't answer when Missy Linda says, "Hello," keeps his yard mowed, but that is all. That house is a rental.

-----Just another one of Missy Linda's life shaping conundrums, right?

New Rules

Greetings most humans and many others,

Well, Missy Linda can hardly wait to get to work these days! It seems that every day there is a new rule from the NEW DISTRICT MANAGER! It is beginning to be amusing to find out what the fresh mind has decided the workers must do that day. Missy Linda says that she believes that he has never had a management class, or if he did, he skipped most of the classes- - -or worst of all, he just knows more than anyone else!

One supervisor has tendered her resignation. Many are glad that she is leaving, but they would happily keep her if the NEW DISTRICT MANAGER would leave. I remember when Missy Linda would complain about the old district manager. Boy! Does she look good now! At least she wasn't a micro-manager.

Missy Linda says that if the NEW DISTRICT MANAGER decides that the salespeople must stand on their respective heads while cutting fabric, she will have to leave. One supervisor says that when that final straw lands on her camel's back, she is going to pull off her shirt in front of everyone and say, "I quit! And here is your _____ shirt!" Of course, that lady has something impressive to show when she rips off her shirt. Missy Linda wouldn't make nearly as much of an impression- - -except horror or sadness! (Also, at her age, there's the danger of people thinking she is getting dementia!)

The Tropics

Hello there most humans and many others,

Well, I believe that the phlegm rivers (and the gastrointestinal problems) around here are clearing up. There is always a certain amount of hacking and blowing noses and sleepiness from antihistamines, but it is getting into the normal range today. Finally!

Missy Linda was saying that it is fairly pleasant outside this morning when she took out the recycling. That is only because there is some rain right close to here that is cooling things, and the clouds are keeping the sun at bay for a couple of hours. She hopes it is that long! I don't mind it too much (even with my curly hair) but these humans around here do not like the tropical weather we are having. Although it has not been raining, it is humid like it has been. It is also unseasonably hot!

Well, you know what? I have been here a couple of summers now, and I think that is just how it is here! Grow up, whiny humans, and learn to live with it. Surely you can stand a few headaches, some ozone alerts, high electric bills, and not being able to breathe! That's what it is like here in the summer! Deal with it!

Phlegm Patrol

Hello most humans and many others,

So what have you all been doing this week? It has been very unexciting around here, for sure! This is the first time that Missy Linda has turned on the computer for me all week. All she and Tio Kane have been doing is hacking up phlegm and saying things like, "What? I can't hear you my ears are stopped up!" - - -whatever that means!

Missy Linda finally has to go back to work today after two days off. Now someone else will have to listen to her today, thank goodness. Tio Kane is not so bad because his crud is on the way out, he says. He says he is feeling a little better.

I am just glad that I will hear less hacking and creepy sounds like that for a few hours today. Thank goodness!